Senior Driving: Can Dad Still Drive Safely?

Some of the issues involving helping your aging, senior parent or grandparent can be difficult — and full of tough decisions. Elderly seniors face unique lifestyle and medical challenges that require them and those that love them to find workable solutions.

It’s very common for elderly loved ones to live in denial about the effects of their advancing years. It's often difficult to accept changes that must occur for them to continue to live in a safe and healthy manner. Restricting or giving up driving is one of those changes.

For most adults, the ability to drive a car is an integral part of their freedom. We rarely think of what it would be like if we couldn’t jump in the car and just go. The total freedom to go where you want, when you want is such a deep part of how we function that it seems inconceivable we could ever lose our mobility.

But for elderly seniors, there will certainly come a time when they need to give up driving. The most common reason that forces seniors to stop driving is poor vision.

While a lot can be done to preserve the eyesight of the elderly, if their vision becomes too impaired they need to be advised that it's time to give up their car keys. No matter how bad this makes you feel, you must do it for their safety and for the safety of others.

So, how do you help your elderly loved one accept and cooperate with a plan to restrict or eliminate driving?

You might be surprised that when it comes time for you (or a caregiver) to talk to an elderly loved one about giving up driving, they may be open to the idea. Most seniors are acutely aware of their physical condition. While they may initially resist giving up the car keys, they usually know this time would come.

If your elderly loved one is highly resistant, there are senior facilities in Winston Salem that administer "senior driving tests". These tests are used to guage your loved one's ability to safely drive a motor vehicle. A poor or failing grade is demonstrative of the hazards and will lower or eliminate your loved one's resistance to giving up the car keys.

Compelling reasons to restrict or eliminate senior driving…

• Doctor’s orders. The senior’s doctor specifically directs that they cannot drive. Seniors will often respect this directive more than family advice. A doctor’s credibility goes a long way to lowering the resistance associated with giving up driving.
  
  

• Their own safety. The thought of being in an accident which may cause serious injury resulting in painful recovery, permanent disability or death is a compelling reason to turn over the car keys.
  
  
  
• The safety of others. It’s easy to find news stories of a senior citizen who continued to drive only to be involved in an accident that caused injury or death to others, maybe even children. That prospect is so horrifying to a Grandma or Grandpa that they may choose to ground themselves then ever face that kind of guilt.
  
  
  
• Savings. No car means no more maintenance costs, car loan payments, gas expense and car insurance. Seniors are cost conscious so these savings can make a difference.

If your aging loved one knows that accommodations can be made to help them get around town, the loss of the car may not be a big problem. Public transportation, like buses that community service centers send to retirement villages, can help seniors get to the grocery store, pharmacy, doctors appointments and other important places.

If the family then pitches in to help drive them around town, not only do they save the costs, liability and hassle of driving, they get more quality time with you. And that is a great incentive to give up driving!

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